Syrian Coalition: Russia Must Stop Brutal Massacres in Aleppo Before Evacuating Assad’s Chemical Weapons
Louay Safi, the spokesman for the Syrian Coalition, called on the Russian government and Iran to put pressure on Bashar al-Assad and his cronies in order to “stop the killing and open humanitarian corridors and allow medical supplies to reach civilians who are being killed by regime’s aerial shelling on Aleppo before sending a group of ships to assist in the evacuation of chemical weapons from Syrian territory.” Safi also said that “the Iranians and the Russians are interested only their own interests and are indifferent to ending the bloodshed witnessed by the Syrian cities. Instead, they are seeking to permanently…Read more
Political Committee: Geneva II Goals Must Honor the Blood of Syrians The Political Committee of the Syrian Coalition stressed after a series of meetings the need for the international community to pressure Assad to stop the…Read more
Media Office Reports Increase of Polio Cases in Syria The Media Office of the Syrian Coalition said it’s going to release a field report tomorrow highlighting the increase of polio cases in Syria, and the reasons for…Read more
50% of Syria’s Population Suffer From Lack of Food The World Food Program said that around 50% of Syria’s population are currently suffering from food insecurity which threatens to become an outbreak of famine in many areas. Recent evaluation showed that there are about 6.3 million people in Syria who need urgent food assistance to survive. The organization said it would expand the scope of its operations carried out in Syria during the next year in order to provide food assistance to more than seven million displaced Syrians inside the country and in neighboring countries. It also noted that efforts would focus on providing food aid to 240,000 children between the ages 6 and 23 months. It will also provide funds and assistance vouchers to 15,000 pregnant women who breastfeed their children and migrated to areas where markets still exist. In a related context, the International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit organization based in New York, conducted a study on a sample of 500 people in different parts of Syria. The study showed that access to clean water has become difficult for more than half of the Syrians. The committee also said that price of bread in Syria has risen by 500%, adding that four of five Syrians are worried that food is running out .” The Chairman of the Committee David Miliband said that that the numbers show that famine is now threatening large numbers of the Syrian people. “We are facing a humanitarian disaster that has not drawn the attention of the world,” he stressed. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
Gas Cylinder Explosion Kills Three Zaatari Camp Refugees A Syrian refugees and two children died as a result of the explosion of a gas cylinder inside the Zaatari camp. According to a source familiar with the camp, the fire was caused by a gas leakage which led to the explosion of the cylinder. The father and his three kids were taking to Mafraq Hospital. Dr. Samir Mashaqbeh, the director of the hospital told AFP that “a Syrian refugee, along with his two children, died of severe burns sustained after a fire broke out in Zaatari refugee camp.” He also said that “the Father Yassin al-Hariri and his three children admitted on Monday to the hospital, and that the injury covered 80% of their bodies as a result of the explosion of a gas cylinder. “He pointed out that the third child is in a critical condition and was transferred to a Bashir government hospital in Amman for treatment.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
Free Syrian Judicial Council Suspended Its Activity and Defines Its Overall Policy Unified Judicial Council of Aleppo announced in a statement the suspension of its activity until further notice as a result of the proliferation of judicial chaos in Aleppo and the multiplicity of judicial authorities. The statement denounced the assault by ‘Fastqm Kama Ommirt” faction on the headquarters of the first judicial department in Aleppo. It also denounced “the bullying by the military of the judicial authorities and imposing their custody on them, which serves to thwart the independence of the work of the Council who made pledges to establish justice among people.” In the same context, the Free Judicial Council announced its general policy as an independent judicial body and an integral non-partisan part of the revolutionary movement, and said that it will deal positively with any national government and in its communication with the revolutionaries. The Council also said that it sees the judiciary as an independent authority that occupies its proper place in the constitution, and that it accepts the application of any law agreed upon by the people that achieves the goals of the revolution on the condition of not violating the provisions of the Islamic Sharia. It also stressed that it is contacting all the judges who have not defected yet from the Assad regime due to their conditions in order to encourage them to be an integral part of the Council. The Council felt the need for cooperation and coordination and to participate with all the tribunals and legitimate bodies that operate on the ground in the Syrian interior, so as to fill the judicial void, and sees the need to unify judicial work at home in order to establish a clear and objective vision for the work of the judiciary at this phase, and that the judiciary must be one and share the same reference and structure. The Council also said it is seeking to establish a judicial institute, and that it sees the need for communication, coordination and cooperation with all institutes, judicial and human rights organizations, and every entity that is interested in forming an independent judicial authority. It also highlighted the need to work on the creation of a special national court, especially to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and will work with all the specialists and those interested in order to establish such a court and the formulation of its mechanism of action in accordance with the standards of international human rights law. The Council sets its priorities which are documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the collection of evidence, and also seeks to communicate with all the organizations and national human rights and international organizations in this regard to follow-up with the perpetrators of those crimes so that they may receive their just punishment. It will also work on the follow-up affairs and the conditions of prisoners of conscience. The Council stressed it is attentive to constitutional and legal studies, which constitutes the foundation for building the state with all its institutions and bodies, and that it is willing to offer the experience of its members to any national human rights institution concerned in this regard. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
Death Toll: 64 killed today, 134 yesterday The Local Coordination Committees in Syria yesterday documented 134 killed yesterday, while 64 people were documented as being killed as of 6:00 pm of today, including three women and 11 children. Deaths were cited as: 47 in Aleppo, 5 in Damascus, 4 in each of Homs and Dara’a, 3 in Hama, and 1 in Idlib. (Source: Local Coordination Committees)
Four People Starve To Death In Yarmouk Refugee Camp The Free Syrian Army clashed today with regime forces around the city of Harasta in Damascus suburbs. In the meantime, Haji Qasim family was found dead, after they were executed and burned by regime forces and Iraqi militias of Zulfikar. Heavy artillery shelling by regime forces was reported on Qaboun and Qadam districts in Damascus. Four people starved to death in Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus which is under an ongoing blockade amid shortage of food and medical supplies and means of heating. (Source: Coalition + Smart News Agency + Local Coordination Committees)
Artillery Shelling Kills 12 in Rural Dara’a Twelve people, mostly children and women, were killed and dozens wounded in the towns of Inkhil and Jassem in rural Dara’a, which came under heavy shelling by regime forces. Regime forces also pounded Nawa with heavy artillery, with no reports of casualties. Meanwhile, violent clashes took place between the Free Syrian Army and the regime forces in the village of Deir Bakht in rural Dara’a, with reports of heavy regime losses. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)
FSA Clashes with Iraqi Abu al Fadl al Abbas Brigade in Rural Homs Violent clashes broke out between the Free Syrian Army and the regime forces in the village of Saa’n in rural Homs. The FSA also clashed with regime forces backed by the militias of Abu al Fadl al Abbas Brigade in the town of Al Ghannto, alongside heavy artillery shelling on the town. Regime forces shelled al Waer neighborhood in Homs with mortar rounds and heavy machine guns, with reports of civilian casualties and material damage. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Smart News Agency)
Cluster Bombs on Eastern Hama, the FSA destroys a Tank in Morek Five people were killed by cluster bombs that were dropped on the town of Aqirbat east of Hama.The Free Syrian Army destroyed a tank belonging to regime forces by a landmine on the M5 highway near the town of Morek north of Hama. A civilian was killed and four wounded by barrel bombs that Assad’s warplanes dropped on Salma resort in Latakia. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)
Barrel Bombs kill 43 in Aleppo, Assassination of a Commander in Liwa Tawhid in Rural Aleppo Regime forces continued aerial shelling by barrel bombs on the province of Aleppo for the third day in a row, killing 43 civilians were killed, mostly women and children. Meanwhile, gunmen assassinated a leading figure in Liwa al Tawhid of the Islamic Front in Aleppo in the town of Andan in rural Aleppo. The Free Syrian Army fired mortar shells on regime positions in the neighborhood of Salah al-Din, with reports of regime losses. Violent clashes broke out between the Free Syrian Army and the regime forces backed by terrorist militias of Hezbollah in the neighborhoods of Rashidin and Anakarin. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)
Meeting to be Held in Cordoba in Preparation for Geneva II Jose Manuel, Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that Cordoba would host in the next month meetings of “factions of the Syrian opposition in preparation for Geneva in an attempt to achieve a common understanding that helps in finding a way out of this situation.” In responding to a question about any next steps to tighten the arms embargo imposed on Syria, Manuel said: ”We must keep evaluatings things think carefully before making any decision regarding the Syrian affairs, and we said consistently that a political solution is the best and no place for a military solution.” For her part, Catherine Ashton said that the EU is working to push for convening of Geneva II and that it would continue its efforts to provide support and humanitarian aid to the Syrian people. Ashton also said that “we say from the outset there is a need to work out a political solution and put a road map for the future, and to reach it we must stop the violence and allow humanitarian access, especially with the onset of winter.” Ashton went on: “I am proud of the contribution made by the European Union so far from aid and humanitarian and aid support. We expressed our support for the Lakhdar Brahimi’s mission, who took on a very difficult task, and it is very important that we continue to help the Syrian people in order to reach an agreement for a cease- fire and to ensure the delivery of relief aid to the affected people and find a way to rebuild the country.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
Kerry Says US Meeting With Syria’s Islamic Front Possible The United States has not met representatives of Syria’s Islamic Front but a meeting is possible to broaden the representation of moderate opposition groups in talks to end the Syrian war, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday. “The United States has not met to date with the Islamic Front but it’s possible it could take place,” Kerry told a news conference in Manila where he is visiting. “There is an effort afoot among all of the supporting nations of the Syrian opposition to want to broaden the base of the moderate opposition and broaden the base of representation of the Syrian people in the Geneva two negotiation,” he added. State Department officials have said talks with the Islamic Front could include lower-level officials from the United States, Britain and France. In Washington, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said earlier that if a meeting with the Front did take place, the United States would announce it, and would feel happy about it.” The statement followed reports about a possible meeting between the Islamic Front and American ambassador to Syria Robert Ford. It should be noted that in November 22 seven Islamic organizations not linked to al Qaeda the formation The Islamic Front, which is the largest alliance since Syrian Revolution broke out in March 2011. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
UNHCR: Situation In Syria Is The Worst Crisis Since Seven Decades Antonio Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said the Syrian civil war has helped push the number of people worldwide who fled conflict in their homelands to more than 2 million this year alone — the highest since 1994, when people fled genocide in Rwanda and bloodshed in the former Yugoslavia. He described the nearly three-year conflict in Syria as a “mega-crisis” with regional dimensions, one that is “probably the most dangerous for global peace and security since World War II.” The exodus of millions of people from Syria in one of the largest refugee flights in decades prompted a record appeal by the United Nations on Monday for $6.5 billion to help displaced Syrians and their host countries, with hundreds of thousands more refugees expected as the civil war rages. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
Five Rockets Fall On Hermel in Lebanon Coming From Syria 5 rockets fell on the city of Hermel in east Lebanon coming from Syrian territory, one of which landed in a Lebanese army barracks, while the other in residential areas. According to the National News Agency, the rocket that hit the army barracks caused a number of minor injuries, who were taken to hospitals in Hermel. The Agency added that another citizen was lightly wounded after the rocket landed in center of the town, causing material damage to the shops on the town.
